Name: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
ISBN: 9780062444134

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past. But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptilian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants. Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet.

What Hacker News says

wwalker3Sep 2026

Even as a writer of optimistic sci-fi myself, it's very difficult for me to come up with more than a handful of examples that are less than ten years old.

Becky Chambers is probably the single best young author working in this genre today. She's got two great series, one that begins with "A Psalm for the Wild-Built", and one which begins with "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet".

I'd argue Andy Weir's "Project Hail Mary" is hopeful sci-fi, and the movie adaptation was great. You could perhaps put Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Elder Race" and "Service Model" in there too, since both are pretty hopeful in overall outlook. And if you broaden to include fantasy, Travis Baldree's "Legend and Lattes" series is very much in the same vein as Becky Chambers.

It seems like hopeful sci-fi movies and TV are more common, like the recent "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds".

Perhaps the recent troubles the world is undergoing will lead to more light-hearted fare to distract us? One can only hope.

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dmbcheSep 2026

Maupassant, Appartion et autres comptes d'angoisse (very good)

Becky Chambers, the long way to a small angry planet (very good)

Asimov, Second foundation (just finished, not as good as Foundation but good still)

Maybe Knut Hansun, The last joy (Nazi sympathizer, might just put the book down - and book not blowing my mind)

Edit0: writing this and seeing Hansun was a Nazi collaborator - putting the book down

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isityettimeSep 2026

I'm reading Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, the latest edition of Eloquent Ruby, and Mastering Emacs.

I'm not sure any are that cognitively challenging, but all of them are certainly lovely.

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isityettimeSep 2026

I'm going through a difficult time in my life, and I was surprised at how often The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet nonetheless made me smile. I just started on the sequel in the series, but I'll take your recommendation and start that Psalm concurrently. :)

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ge96May 2026

I am so happy this movie did great, the book was great

Similar to me books: Bobiverse, Long Way To A Small Angry Planet

I'm not a heavy reader

This site is cool, I want to get to know stellar navigation stuff for astrophotography watching a video like this where they pull up star charts to point the telescope at it pretty cool https://www.youtube.com/live/TexqPMQMyZg?si=oEnvrxW21-D0VXGV...

Tangent I'll throw in here, I never get the fabric folding gravity well diagrams as it seems to have a "down" direction, I guess it looks like it's down since it's a slice but the effect is an inward sphere?

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pwatsonwailesJan 2026

Blindsight by Peter Watts

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Startide Rising by David Brin

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

Semiosis by Sue Burke

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward

Solaris by Stanisław Lem

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler